


Paddling Pools and Ice-Lollies

by beforeclocks



Category: Mighty Boosh (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-14
Updated: 2012-02-14
Packaged: 2017-10-31 04:18:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/339808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beforeclocks/pseuds/beforeclocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a hot summer's day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paddling Pools and Ice-Lollies

**Author's Note:**

> An old fic written in 2009. Posted here to keep things tidy.

“Howard? Howard? Howard, Howard, Howaaard!”

“What, Vince? Can’t you see I’m trying to read?” Howard snapped angrily, closing his novel with more force than was strictly needed.

“Oh come on,” Vince moaned, flopping down on the couch next to Howard, “reading’s so boring!”

“Is that what you’ve come to tell me?”

Vince managed to completely miss the sarcasm in his voice. “No. I just thought you might like to know we’re out of ice-lollies.”

“And I suppose you want me to walk to the shop and buy more?”

Vince picked at his finger nails awkwardly. “Well… yeah.”

Howard sighed, hoisting himself to his feet, before a sudden idea hit him. Not literally of course, ideas didn’t generally fly through the air attacking people. At least, not in this part of the city.

“Why can’t you go yourself?”

“You’re joking right?” When it was clear from Howard’s expression he wasn’t Vince continued, “its way too hot out there for me.”

“But Vince, that’s not really a very good excuse; I’m just as hot as you. Surely you can think of something better?”

“It’s not an excuse. Once you’re outside you’ll be cooler than me, yeah. Cos I’ve got drainpipes on and you’ve got loose kaki shorts.” 

“Couldn’t you just wear something a bit looser?”

Vince stared at Howard as if he’d grown an extra head.

“What?” the larger man continued, “you were in shorts and a baggy shirt earlier!”

“Hey, not so loud. Anyway, that was different; no one could see me then, could they?”

Howard sighed again, giving in to the obviously lost battle, grabbing his wallet and keys from the coffee table.

“Oh and Howard?” Howard turned back to face Vince. “Get us some raspberry bootlaces, will you?” 

Whilst Howard was retrieving some pounds from Vince’s ‘sweet money jar’ on top of the fridge Vince himself managed to sneak down the stairs and into the garden. 

\---

“Uh, Vince?” Howard called out, surveying the random objects littered about the garden, “what’s going on here?”

“Hey Howard!” Vince emerged from the shed at the bottom of the garden, gesturing frantically for Howard to join him. “You know how it’s so hot, yeah-“

“Yes Vince, I had noticed.”

“Anyway,” Vince continued, a little louder, “I thought it would be genius if we could properly cool down and I remembered Naboo talking about an old swimming pool lying about somewhere-“

“It was hardly ‘lying about’ was it? I mean, you had to get all of this stuff out of the shed just to get to it. I didn’t even know we owned most of these things.” He added, stooping to pick up a damaged looking bike pump. “Look at this. I didn’t even know any of us owned a bike!”

“Alright, but none of that matters, does it? The point is, all we have to do is fill up this pool with water and we can sit in it all afternoon and keep cool.”

Howard looked over to their left where the swimming pool was slumped.

“Shall I sort this out then?” Howard asked in a manful tone, metaphorically rolling up his sleeves.

While he tried to figure out how the complicated paddling pool was inflated he sent Vince off to make some cold drinks and grab them both an ice-lolly. In the end, filling up the pool was very simple; he had to find the air pump under an old mattress Vince had removed from the shed, inflate the top rim and hold the hose in the centre to fill it up, but of course Vince didn’t need to know all that.

The younger man appeared just as Howard was turning off the hose. He was already in a pair of swimming trunks, which he had customised himself with glitter-glue pens last summer. He had an ice-lolly in one hand, another one already in his mouth, and Howard’s swimming shorts in the other. He presented both gifts to Howard, smiling around the lolly. Howard smiled back, chucking the wrapped lolly onto the grass and disappearing into the shed to change.

Vince was already in the pool when he came back out. Howard clambered in with him, careful not to disrupt too much water. The pool wasn’t very large. Although the sides were tall, its diameter was, at a push, no more than three metres.

“Cosy,” Vince commented with a chuckle, finishing his lolly with a slurp. Howard had left his own frozen treat on the grass. It would have melted by the time he retrieved it but he didn’t really mind. It was nice just sitting in the water with Vince, in the heat of the afternoon. They didn’t do much together these days, he reflected, Vince was often out with his fashionable friends, leaving Howard watching long documentaries on the television. More recently Vince seemed to be making more of an effort not to tease Howard about his clothes or his jazz and Howard, in turn, and been making more of an effort not to switch off when Vince started talking about clothes.

While Howard had been pondering this Vince had the sudden idea to start a water fight. Suddenly, Howard was hit with a face full of the stuff. He spluttered and gasped, finally recovering enough to see Vince doubled over, shaking with laughter.

“You little-!” Howard almost jumped across the pool, tackling Vince around the waist, taking him head first under the water.

“My hair!” Vince screamed, launching himself at Howard with as much force as the water would allow.

Howard managed to fend him off due to his superior strength and then proceeded to tickle Vince until he was gasping for air and laughing uncontrollably.

“Have you had enough, little man?”

“That… was… mean!” he gasped between breaths, wiping tears from his eyes. “Don’t you do that again!” Vince grinned mischievously, flicking water at Howard gently.

Howard chuckled, too tired from the heat to retaliate any more.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, both enjoying the sun playing off their faces. Howard’s eyes are closed when Vince starts to talk.

“Hey Howard?”

“What is it Vince?” He doesn’t bother opening his eyes, just turns his head in the direction of Vince’s voice.

“I was just thinking, it’s a bit weird this, innit? Two grown men sitting in a children’s paddling pool together. Don’t you think its bit weird?”

Howard shrugged, unsure what to say. It’s quite a deep thing for Vince to say, he thinks. Usually he wouldn’t care about something like that - doing what he wants and not caring what other people think.

“What’s brought all this on, Vince?”

“Nothin’ honest.” I was…” he paused for a moment, before changing his words mid sentence, “it’s been nice today, hasn’t it ‘oward?”

“Yeah,” Howard smiled, holding out his arm so Vince could fit into his shoulder”.” It’s been really nice.”

Vince sighed happily, leaning further against Howard, resting his head on Howard’s broad shoulder, glad of the lax in Howard’s usual ‘no touching’ rule.

Howard suddenly tightened his arm around Vince’s shoulders, tensing as if only just realising their close proximity.

Vince sighed again but this time it wasn’t a noise of content. He went to move away from Howard but when Howard didn’t loosen his grasp Vince looked up at him quizzically. 

“Come on Howard, make up your mind,” Vince almost whined.

“Make up my-“ Howard looked completely confused, staring down at Vince.

“Do you fancy me or what?”

“Do I-?”

Vince cried out in frustration, angrily hitting Howard’s shoulder and pushing himself out of the pool.

“Vince? What’s the matter?”

“Why ain’t you kissed me or somethin’ yet?”

Howard stared at Vince, bemused, whilst climbing out of the pool himself and trying not to slip on the damp grass.

“Howard,” Vince began more softly, “I’m not taking the piss. Only, you’ve been watching me funny all day…”

“Vince, I still don’t know what you are talking about!” Howard’s face was growing redder, proof to Vince that he was lying.

“Sure you don’t,” he whispered, taking a step towards Howard, leaning up and pressing their lips together.

Howard let out a little squeak and for a moment Vince thought he’d got it all wrong and Howard really had been joking and he was going to pull away and then they’d be uncomfortable around each other and-

But instead Howard brought his hand to tangle in Vince’s hair and brought their lips even closer.

Vince moaned, pressing his body up against Howards.

Then Vince felt Howard pulling away so he latched on tighter, trusting is tongue into the older mans mouth. Howard chuckled slightly, moving just far enough back that he could speak but still close enough that Vince could feel his warm breath on every outward puff. 

“It hasn’t just been today,” he muttered.

“What?” It was Vince’s turn to be confused now.

“Me looking at you. It hasn’t only been for today.”

“Oh… how long has it been?”

“Weeks. Months. Years maybe. I just didn’t realise I had been until you mentioned it.”

Vince grinned, taking Howard by the wrist and dragging him back towards the flat.

“Come on. Let’s take this inside. It’s far too hot out here.”

As it turned out, it wasn’t much cooler inside, but it was made more bearable by the presence of more ice-lollies and Vince’s sugary sweets. 

And the sex afterwards was pretty good too.


End file.
